91 charges in 3 jurisdictions: Trump’s current status in all 5 of his ongoing and pending trials
Former President Donald Trump is charging ahead with his efforts to recapture the White House in 2024 despite being the first former president to be formally indicted on criminal charges.
The 45th president of the United States is facing both civil and criminal penalties in five separate legal proceedings concerning his business empire and his own personal activities both before and after his presidency. The Washington Post recently assembled a status report of Trump's legal calendar based on the latest developments in both state and federal courts.
Here's where things currently stand in Trump's ongoing cases:
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1. New York civil fraud trial
The former president's legal team is now calling a laundry list of witnesses as it begins its defense in the civil fraud lawsuit New York Attorney General Letitia James filed against the Trump Organization. NBC News reporter Ryan Reilly said Friday that Trump's defense attorneys are "trying to basically put as many people up as they possibly can and basically extend this thing out as long as possible."
Reilly added that the defense's argument could take "weeks and weeks," but that Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump acted fraudulently, so the only questioning remaining would be how much in civil damages the former president's company should be on the hook to pay. If Engoron does rule against Trump in the bench trial, it's likely Trump will appeal.
2. Florida federal classified documents trial
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The scheduled May 20 date still stands in the pending criminal trial concerning Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The ex-president faces 40 charges relating to both his storage and handling of sensitive government documents and his unwillingness to turn those documents over to the National Archives after leaving the White House. Other defendants in that case include Trump body man Walt Nauta and former Mar-a-Lago employee Charles de Oliveira.
Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case, has allowed the postponement of several pretrial dates in order to allow time for the former president's lawyers to review the "voluminous" evidence in the case, which includes both classified and unclassified records. She's scheduled to decide by March 1 whether to delay the trial date, though a former CIA attorney recently tweeted that in their opinion, Cannon is allowing too much time for litigation in order for a May 20, 2024 trial date in the Southern District of Florida to be feasible.
3. Washington, DC federal election interference trial
Another obstacle that will likely in the way of Trump's May 20 trial date in Judge Cannon's courtroom is Trump's March 4, 2024 trial date in Washington, DC, concerning his four criminal charges relating to the January 6 plot to allegedly overturn the 2020 presidential election.
According to the Washington Post, Trump's legal team is now calling for his scheduled trial in DC court to be televised, even though federal courtrooms typically don't allow cameras. Should Judge Tanya Chutkan make an exception and allow TV cameras inside of her courtroom, the start of the trial would fall on the eve of the critical Super Tuesday primaries, when 17 states and territories — including delegate-rich states like California and Texas — hold their presidential primary contests.
The Post reported that Trump's late Friday court filing included numerous political attacks on the Biden Department of Justice, meaning his bid to televise the trial could be seen as a political gambit to make his case to Republican primary voters ahead of the biggest date on the primary calendar. Notably, Judge Chutkan has given the Trump team a deadline of January to decide whether the former president wants to make an "advice of counsel" defense, in which a defendant argues that they were simply following the advice of their attorneys. However, that defense would mean Trump has to waive attorney-client privilege, making all communications between him and his legal representatives open to public and media scrutiny.
4. Fulton County, Georgia election interference trial
No trial date has currently been set in Fulton County, Georgia, where the former president has been indicted on 13 counts relating to his alleged attempts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election in the Peach State. Trump is one of 19 defendants charged with violating Georgia's RICO statute, and four of those defendants have already entered guilty pleas.
READ MORE: Trump has fought hard to suppress his 'perfect' call to GA secretary of state: report
The Post reported that while the status of the Georgia case has remained relatively unchanged for the former president, one of his co-defendants, Jeffrey Clark, is now embroiled in legal proceedings in Washington, DC that could eventually result in him losing his law license. Clark is now asking for deadlines in his own case to be delayed so he can defend himself in DC court. He's also in the midst of trying to move his case from Fulton County's jurisdiction to federal jurisdiction.
The Washington, DC Bar's Office of Disciplinary Counsel recently charged Clark with dishonest conduct in response to his attempts as a Department of Justice lawyer to send a letter to Georgia election officials that contained false statements. That letter sought to convene a special legislative session in Georgia to investigate the state's vote count in the 2020 election.
5. New York business fraud trial
Finally, Trump is facing a March 25, 2024 trial date in New York state court, where he has been indicted on 34 charges relating to alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. While Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was the first law enforcement official to charge Trump with felonies, his case against the former president has remained dark since announcing the indictment earlier this year.
READ MORE: 'A stupid strategy': Trump sending his kids into a 'perjury trap' in fraud trial return
